Written in the past through the numerous churches and now school articles, if new information surfaced this writer would return to the previous article(s) written. Such is the case with the previous weeks article #13 - Harbor District. Sincere thank you is to be given to Mrs. Katha Root a resident of Harbor Road in Greene. She phoned the newspaper and she was contacted by me, Mrs. Root advised me that the Harbor District #13 schoolhouse is still standing, though it has been remodeled to a private dwelling and is hardly recognized as a former schoolhouse. She believes only one wall of the original building was used in the remodeling process. If one takes a ride in that vicinity, it is best to know exactly where this school now dwelling is located.

However is it now timely to move to the above district for yet another chapter of Greene school history! This district school would serve the many residents children of this area from 1830 until 1931 when the centralization battle began and as has been written before, Greene was one of the last districts in Chenango County to accept centralization. The location of this building which has been converted to a private dwelling is located approximately as the intersection of County Road #9 and the Palimter Road. If this writer’s calculations are incorrect and was determined from that area from the 1875 Atlas Map comparing it to the latest Chenango County map. What is not known is who erected the building, how much did it cost, where did the lumber come from? All these are yet another example of “mysteries of history.”

In the year of 1830 when this district was formed serving as Commissioners were Samuel Williams, Levi Farr and Augustus Willard. Inspectors were William Patterson Orrin Sharp and August Willard. Williard would go on to serve as Commissioner for a number of years as would Sharp, William D. Purple, Jehial Spafford, John Wheeler to name a few. By the year of 1921 a law was enacted to pay the commissioners a minimum weekly wage of $20.00.

In the research of the boundary lines of this district there was no information found, however the district lines would be changed many times, which was not uncommon with the Town of Greene. The following district line changes were researched and found: 1833 -the part of lots 9 and 70/TM as occupied by Alanson and George L. Bingham from District #15 to #14,1835 - house and lot of Jared Page from #20 to #14,1836 - farm of Daniel Osborne from #14 to #15, 1838 - farms now occupied by Daniel Osborne and Caleb Merrell from #14 to #15 (in 1825 these belonged to Ebenezer Everts and were changed from #15 to #14.) In 1839 the south half of 14/TM occupied by Richard Laskey from #14 to #15, and the final change in district lines that was researched was in 1843 the farm of Oliver D. Merrell from #15 to #14.

At the County Clerk’s office in Book #118 p. 413 in 1863 George and Mary Jane Roberts sold to Thomas B. Kelly, Darius Cooper, Sr. and Thomas VanNess as trustees of District #14 for the enormous sum of $25 part of lot 12/A lot 2 beginning in highway at northeast corner of lot, west 6 Yt rods, south 8 rods, east 6 1/2 rods to highway, north 8 rods to point of beginning (reserving that part conveyed to said district by Edward Roberts, June 22,1834), which is an addition to the site for a schoolhouse for the district now owned for that purpose by the district. The deed of Edward Roberts was not researched and if further investigation is found it might provide clues to part of the “mysteries of history.”